Brenda-Hal Sisk
Forum Replies Created
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My husband & I love 70+% dark chocolate; it’s the only chocolate we buy. This would be wonderful. I’ve got some here, so I’ll be trying it for sure. Thanks for the article! – Brenda
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Hi Charlene. Yes those ABG tests are very painful. You are not alone with your feelings. Unless people have walked in our shoes, they just really don’t know. I find myself suppressing my feelings more and more around certain people, and then I used to just lose it when I was alone. Now I stop, take a deep breath, well as deep as I can, and then pray for them. My prayer usually is for God to open their hearts to hear what I truly need from them, not pity, but more compassion. I pray they learn to not fill the “space” with a lot of words, but to put their thoughts and words into action and just be there for me. And I pray for me, that I will eventually develop thicker skin when it comes to well meaning people and learn to lean more on Him, God, for my comfort, compassion & peace. Crying and getting upset really doesn’t do me any good either since it all causes yet more coughing and frustration! Oh what a vicious circle!
Take care,
Brenda
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Charlene,
Yes, I’ve experienced many changes as well. I still have quite a few friends, but many times I feel like they don’t really know what to do with me. They are very loving and caring and watch out for me when we are together, but I believe they are very unsure of what to do, what to say, etc. My closest friend, my best friend, also has a chronic illness. She didn’t at the time we met, over 5 years ago, but has since been diagnosed with an immune deficiency disease. We met just before my diagnosis. She’s the one person who gets me. I praise God for putting us together. We are closer than sisters if that is possible. My activities have changed and my hobbies have been reduced to knitting, which I absolutely love. So does my best friend. This is a big plus. I used to go on at least one short term mission trip each year, that has stopped. It’s difficult to travel with O2 in third world countries. My husband just asked me about going to our grandson’s football game tomorrow evening. I can’t tell him yes or no until tomorrow to see if I feel up to it. That really stinks! Family is what I value most in this life. It’s hard when you don’t feel up to attending family functions, but I do the best I can and most all are very understanding about it.
Praying these transitions become easier to work through for all of us and for our families and friends.
Blessings to all,
Brenda
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Hi Charlene. I am fortunate to still be working 5 yrs after diagnosis. I celebrated my 5 yrs in May 1st. I have a great employer and am blessed to be able to work from home. It’s a desk job with lots of computer work but a lot of phone calls too. Coughing is an aggravation, but I just hit mute on my phone. Everyone I deal with understands. I do my fair share of travel with work as well. I fly a lot. Getting ready to leave in a week for a 2 week trip to Europe for work where I will be doing a lot of walking. I’m on supplemental O2 when I exert myself so on trips like this I travel with my POC. I’ve not had to use it in flight before, but this time may be different. I have my 6 month PFT next week before I leave and having a CT as well. We’ll see how things are going there. I’ve been hovering around 50% lung function since diagnosis. I’m curious to see how my lungs look now. I do use a mask in public on occasion and will try to use one on my flights too. This flu season has been horrible around us and I’m not taking any chances. I also use essential oils and EO based whole food supplements to boost my immune system. So far between God, these natural blessings, exercise & trying to eat healthy I have stayed well without any other meds, except for the IPF of course.
Take care.
Brenda
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I’m not on any meds or inhalers, but I’m interested in this. Thanks for posting. I will be anxious to learn how you are doing after you start using it.
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Tracie, I agree with Timothy, stay strong and fight for what is rightfully yours. We all have to do what we must to preserve what we have. You may have already thought of this, but you should check into getting a deferment or even forgiveness on your student loans due to your health and financial hardship. Just a thought to help take some pressure off of you.
Take care, I’ll be praying for you.
Brenda
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Hi Charlene,
It’s been a while since I touched base with you. I pray you are doing as well as we all can hope for. Have you taken your trip to the UK yet? How was it?
So to update you on my Europe trip. It was long and I didn’t realize how worn out I would be. Everyone was very accommodating, but just the nature of my work during the 2 weeks was very tough on me. We didn’t get to have much leisure time, but it was enough for me that’s for sure. So much driving and walking. As you know, with being on O2, walking is just not as fun as it used to be. Luckily I had a co-worker with me to do all the cross-country driving. I was also glad I purchased extra batteries for my POC; they have come in handy several times since the trip in May. I also noticed it took me longer to recover from this trip than I had expected. I was glad that I had a full 3 months before I took a fun trip to Salt Lake City in September. It took every bit of that time to recover so I could enjoy myself. Now I’m just going to take it easy for the rest of the year as I continue to work from home and only make short trips to our corporate office (2 hr. drive away) when needed. To answer your question about working from home, I’ve pretty much been working from home for over 10 yrs. now, pre-diagnosis. It’s worked out well for me and especially now with my IPF. Yes, my employer is great! They really are more like family to me; they are the best! The owners even traveled with me to Salt Lake City last month; we went for an essential oils convention. I love that technology has made it so I can work remotely.
Well, take care, Charlene. Let me know how your trip went.
Continuing to keep you and everyone else in my prayers.
Brenda